Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Not everything that I do builds me up. If it’s tearing you down, then how can it bring glory to the Lord? Or if it’s tearing down other people, how can it bring glory to the Lord? And yet it’s so hard for people to understand as they put these rules and regulations that they’re trying to live by, but they never, never can. They always fail. We always fall short of rules and regulations.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. As we conclude our Liberty series, Raul will take us to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 to consider how Christian freedom and Christian responsibility work together.

While believers have been set free through Christ, every choice we make is an opportunity to honor the Lord and reflect His character to those around us. We hope you'll follow along in your copy of God's Word as we look at what it means to live for God's glory and care for others through our words, attitudes, and actions. Now in the book of 1 Corinthians, here's Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: We come to the end of chapter 10 this morning, and it’s amazing because this morning we want to speak once again as Paul the Apostle does not let the issue die, because there are so many people that are bound by rules and regulations. He’s going to be speaking this morning on the freedom and responsibility that you and I have in Jesus Christ, and I like that.

Because there seems to be many times where people will come to me and say, “Well Raul, what things can I do as a believer and what things I cannot do as a believer?” And usually, I have not much to say to them. Very little. Because first of all, you and I, if we’re really believers in the Lord, we have the great agent that God the Father not only sent through His Son Jesus Christ, which we call the Holy Spirit.

And He has come to convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. But it seems that people are really sometimes caught up in legalism. At no time did Paul ever deny the freedom of the mature Christian to enjoy his privileges in Jesus Christ. Paul never said, “These are the ten rules and regulations and you better keep them or else you’re going to be damned.” Never did he say that.

As a matter of fact, Paul the Apostle three times, first time in 1 Corinthians 6:12 said, “All things are lawful, but not everything is profitable and some things lead to slavery.” I like that. Some things could lead you to become a slave to that thing that you’re wanting to do. We have to be careful.

Secondly, he said in 1 Corinthians 8:11 through 13, “All things are profitable, but some activities can cause your weaker brother to stumble.” So not only do I get stumbled, I have to be careful that in the things that I see, or do, or eat, or drink, to be careful that I don’t make my brother to stumble. You see?

Even though I have been given the freedom to do whatever I want to do, I can do it. But Paul says, “I will not do it so that I, because of God’s love, do not want to offend anyone or to keep them from Jesus Christ.” I like Paul’s attitude. That’s a beautiful, beautiful attitude to possess as a Christian.

And then as you look at this whole thing that Paul is going to be talking about, let’s begin by reading chapter 10 beginning with verse 23. He says, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful or beneficial. All things are lawful for me, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake; for 'the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.' If any of those who do not believe invites you to a dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no questions for conscience' sake.

But if anyone says to you, 'This was offered to idols,' then do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience' sake; for 'the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.' Conscience, I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience?

But if I partake with thanks or grace, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks for? Therefore, whether you eat, whether you drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jew or to the heathens, or the Gentiles, or to the church of God, just as also I please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.” Notice that.

And then chapter 11 verse 1, “Imitate me, just as also I imitate the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul the Apostle's first point is this: responsibility to the believers in the church. What is my responsibility as a Christian to other Christians? And the questions that I would want to ask my own life is, will this thing that I’m going to do, will this lead to freedom or to slavery? What will it lead me to?

Secondly, will this make me stumble or will it make it a stone of stepping for someone to progress in his walk? Or thirdly, will this build me up or tear me down? Fourthly, will this only please me or will it bring glory to God? And fifthly, will this help me to win the lost or to turn people away from Jesus Christ?

Those are good questions that each one of us must answer in their own. I know in my own life what is lawful and what is not lawful. I have the freedom to drink wine, to drink a beer, to do anything that I please like doing, believe me. Nobody can see me what I do. But yet I know that God sees all things.

And surely, if I do possess the love of Jesus Christ in my life, surely I don’t want to make my children stumble and those people that I work with. I want to make sure that when they see my life, they’re seeing Jesus Christ working and living through my life. That’s an important question.

Because many times what Paul is making a proclamation here is that all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful or beneficial. You see? I could become a slave to that one thing. Or maybe before I came to Christ, I was possessed by one thing and maybe it’s not safe for me to be hanging out or even talking about those things, or even being with people that are doing those things, because sooner or later that thing can become slavery once again in my life.

I have to be very careful in the things that I see, in the things that I hear, in the things that I drink, in the things that I eat, in the things that I do. And this is the answer to the legalism that we find today amongst so many churches: how is this thing going to bring glory and honor to the Lord? And then if it does, go for it. But if it doesn’t, be careful.

Because not only can it enslave you, but it can stumble many other people. And you will be held accountable for stumbling people. Our responsibility as believers is to be a watchman to the world. That is not only sharing with people Christ with them, but at the same time being careful the way we live our lives in Jesus Christ.

Why? Because my neighbors watch me every day. Those that I work with are constantly watching over me. But the greatest people that really know me inside out is my family. They know whether I am a man of integrity or whether I am a phony. And God wants us to be hearers and doers.

That was the major problem with the Pharisees and the Scribes. They would say, but they would not do. They would put burdens on other people, things that they themselves were not willing to do. And many times, the church has become guilty of putting burdens on people which the church never, never fulfills themselves.

And so it’s important that we come to a place within our lives. Whatever we’re doing, checking in with the Lord and saying, “Lord, how is this going to bring glory and honor to Your name?” And if you can have the peace of God that passes all understanding, then you have no problem in doing it. You can enjoy when you do it.

But if there’s a check by the Holy Spirit, then you need to wait for further instruction. You surely don’t want to commit yourself knowing that you don’t have the peace of God to do such thing, and yet to go ahead and do it without God’s okay. It can bring you not only in stumbling yourself, but stumbling many other people in your life. That’s why we have to be so careful.

That’s why Paul says all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful or beneficial. All things are lawful for me, but not all things build up. You see? Not everything that I do builds me up. If it’s tearing you down, then how can it bring glory to the Lord? Or if it’s tearing down other people, how can it bring glory to the Lord? Very simple to understand.

And yet it’s so hard for people to understand as they put these rules and regulations that they’re trying to live by, but they never, never can. They always fail. We always fall short of rules and regulations.

I like what Paul says not only there in verse 23, but here he’s talking about the believers. That’s you and me. First of all, the believers are called to spiritual liberty. I like that word. In Galatians chapter 5 verse 13, Paul said this, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only be careful that you don’t use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh.” I like that.

There are many people that take the liberty that Christ gives them only to enrich themselves in the flesh, you see? And then Paul says you need to be careful. “But through love we serve one another.” The whole basis of my liberty lies upon the love of Jesus Christ. That’s it. That’s the key.

Secondly, believers are called to abide by spiritual liberty. In James 1:25, James says this, he says, “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues to do it, it is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in whatever he or she will do.” You see?

If you stay on target, if you stay on the guidelines that God has given to us in the New Testament through love and bringing glory and honor to the Lord, and building up, not tearing down, then you’re going to have the blessing of God in your life. Otherwise, you won’t.

Thirdly, believers are called to walk in spiritual liberty, no longer in slavery. That is, anything that possesses you becomes what? Your god. You become a slave to that thing or to that person. You see? We have to be careful.

And then fourthly, believers are called to have spiritual liberty in Jesus Christ. That is, Jesus has set us free. And if the Son of God will set you free, you will be free indeed. He did not give you a bunch of rules and regulations.

Paul the Apostle in Galatians 2:4-5 said this, “And this happened because of false brethren secretly bringing in, who came in by steal or to spy out our liberty which we have in Jesus Christ, that they might bring us again into bondage,” speaking of the circumcisers. “And to whom we did not yield submission to, even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.”

Paul says we never gave in to these people that came in and said that in order to be saved you had to be circumcised. Paul says there's no possible way Jesus ever taught that. And so we have to be careful how we set up our liberty and what are we teaching people in our liberty.

And this is so beautiful because as he says this, here's the problem again: let no one seek his own. I think that’s the problem: selfishness. People are constantly seeking their own. They’re not thinking of other people.

I hear so many times sarcastically people say, “I don’t care what they think. Who cares, as long as I am pleased.” That’s selfishness. That’s not what Christ teaches. It is the law of love that actually completes everything in the Scriptures.

Then verse 25, watch this: “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake.” Actually, Paul’s talking again as we dealt last week going down to the supermarket, going down to the butcher and say, “Hey, I’d like to buy a piece of meat. But let me ask you a question first. Was that meat given to you from the temple of Aphrodite and was it offered to idols and demons?” And if he tells you yes, then he says what? Then don’t buy it.

It’s better to go and buy it without asking any questions. Why? Because you’re not under law, you’re under grace. That piece of meat to you is nothing. The problem comes if somebody sees you in the supermarket and you say, “God has given me the grace to drink beer,” and they watch you buying beer, but they don’t have that freedom. What’s going to happen? You’re going to make them stumble.

Or it could be wine, or it could be anything that you have the freedom to do, but others around you do not have that freedom. And Paul says the greatest thing here is keeping people out of the kingdom of God. Pretty heavy.

So we have a great responsibility. And I think it’s important that we understand that we’re not under the law, but we’re under grace. We have to be very sensitive to people’s needs. Not just thinking of our own needs, not just thinking of ourselves, but understanding that meat has nothing to do with it.

Because we’re not bound by laws and regulations, I know my freedom. Why? Because I have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives me a check on the things that I can do and the things that I cannot do. I know that in my own life and so do you. So we can’t play dumb, you see?

So Paul says again, he says, by the way, “Ask no question for conscience' sake. For 'the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.' If any of those who do not believe invites you to a dinner,” so somebody says, “Hey, why don’t you come over to my house to eat?” He’s not a believer. And then he says this: and you go to his house, and you desire to go, and he says eat whatever is set before you, asking no questions for conscience' sake.

Why? Because if you start asking questions, you might make that heathen stumble. Whatever they serve you just pray and eat it and enjoy it without asking any questions. But watch this, verse 28. He says, “But if anyone says to you, 'This was offered to idols'”—oh, by the way, he says, “This nice bunch of ribs were not only barbecued so nicely, but I bought them at the butcher shop and they were actually at one time in the altar of Aphrodite.”

Paul says, “Excuse me, but I can’t eat it.” Why? Because you don’t want to make that guy stumble. It wouldn’t be bad to eat it because it’s not going to hurt you, you’re a believer, but for conscience' sake, you can make them stumble.

So Paul says, for he says again verse 28, “But if anyone says to you, 'This was offered to idols,' do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you and for conscience' sake.” Why? “For 'the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.'” You see? Very clear in his counsel. Verse 29: “Conscience, yes, I say, not your own.” I’m not worrying about you. But notice: “but that of the other.” The other person is the one that we are concerned with, you see?

It might not harm you, but it may harm them tremendously. And the greatest harm comes when they are kept out or stumbled to come into the kingdom of God. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? And really, I cannot judge you and you cannot judge me. The Lord is the one that judges. You see?

And here’s the key in verse 31. But let me read verse 30 again. “But if I partake with thanks, what am I evil spoken for the food which I give thanks to?” Which means when he eats, he prays over it, he gives thanks, and he’s not worrying about anything.

Then here is the key to the second point of the lesson this morning: responsibility to glorify God in all things that I do. Verse 31, listen to what he says. This is the key to everything. “Therefore,” he takes you back. When there's a therefore, wherefore, he’s taking you back to the previous verses that he just spoke.

He says, “Therefore, because of this, whether you eat, whether you drink,” and you say, drink what? Whatever. You know what you drink. You know what you eat. Watch what he says: “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” I want you to circle that because that’s the key to Christian liberty.

Today's study reminds us that the Christian life is not guided by personal preference alone, but by a desire to honor God and serve others well. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If today's message has spoken to you in a specific way, we recommend you get the unedited version.

For a donation of five dollars or more, we'll send a copy of the message Freedom And Responsibility. Just call 800-634-9165. To continue studying these important truths, we'd like to offer you Raul's four-part Liberty series, available on CD and USB. This collection includes today's message along with three additional studies that explore the freedom that we have as believers in Jesus.

As you work through these lessons, you'll gain a deeper understanding of how God's grace shapes daily living and how a faithful walk with Him can influence those around you. To purchase Raul's four-lesson study, Celebrating Your Liberty In Christ, visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165. We'll send the CD set for 18 dollars or if you prefer, the flash drive for just 10 dollars.

Again, the phone number is 800-634-9165. If you'd like to order this resource by writing to us, our mailing address is Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. We're grateful for your partnership. Your tax-deductible gifts help us continue sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with listeners near and far. And we look forward to having you with us again next time as we begin a new series. Together, we'll explore Paul's timeless instruction for believers and we'll discover practical biblical wisdom for living faithfully in today's world. Now with a closing comment, here's Raul once again.

Raul Ries: And then third point, verses 32 to 33: the responsibility we have to win the lost. I love this, watch this. He says, “Then give no offense,” you see? He says, now that you know the key to the primary reason for my existence in the kingdom of God, give no offense to anyone: either to the Jew, or to the Gentile, or to the Christian, the church of God.

“Just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit,” you see? But listen, here’s the key: “but the profit of many, that they may be saved.” Underline that. That’s the key: that people will come to know Jesus Christ.

And here’s what Paul says, chapter 11 verse 1: “Imitate me, just as also I imitate Jesus Christ.” You see, if we imitate Jesus Christ, how can we go wrong? We can’t. We can’t be perfect, but we can have a goal to imitate Jesus Christ by checking in and saying, “How is this going to bring glory and honor to my Lord and to my Savior Jesus Christ?” Period.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.